, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's. good morning, coming up on "your business," have you seen one of these yet. it's the veggie burger that bleeds. find out how impossible foods got their products into restaurants nationwide. will this person get to pitch her app to 2,000 influencers and bloggers? and the booming business of pampering pets. when it comes time for "your business" we have your back and your lunch. that's next on "your business." announcer: "your business"

is sponsored by american express. don't do business without it. "your business" is sponsored by american express. don't do business without it. hi there, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping your growing business. it has made headlines as the plant based burger that bleeds. with celebrities declaring their love for impossible foods on social media, publicity is one thing this company does right. how is this brand getting the same customers to keep coming back after the hype wears off? we take a bite into this company that is changing how the world thinks about meat. >> good. >> i love the meat in burgers.

i was the first one done. >> it looks like a burger. it feels like a burger and tastes like a juicy beef burger. but -- >> if i wasn't told it wasn't meat, i wouldn't have known. it was delicious. >> this is the impossible burger made of a plant based ground meat that has taken the culinary world by storm. >> it's incredible. what you can do with it is limitless. >> it was created by the ceo pat brown who never set out to create a brand. >> i had no interest in going into business. zero would be overstating it. i was, honestly, not interested in food. i was one of the least qualified people in the world to do this. >> he was a stanford medical school professor, while on sabbatical started mulling over the world's big problems. >> the use of animals as food

production is, by far, the most destructive on earth. i relatively quickly realized you are not going to solve a problem by trying to get people to change what they eat. it's not going to work. the only option was to figure out a more sustainable way to produce the foods that people are going to continue to demand. >> in 2011, he traded his classroom for a laboratory, where he got together a top secret team of scientists to work on finding the answer to one big question. just what is it that makes meat so tasty? they started with ground beef. >> very first time we tested the prototype, it was characterized by our tasters as tasting like polenta. >> he held on to one thought. >> we can get better every single day. the cows stopped getting better a million years ago at making meat. >> they had a protoe type in

hand. i. was time to get to consumers. >> the only consumer that matters to us is a hard core meat lover. people who love meat falsely assume delicious meat has to come from animals. to crack through, we needed people who were uncompromised and their livelihood depending on serving great meat, put their reputation on the line serving our product as meat. >> this company is mission based. >> our mission is to completely replace the most destructive technology by creating the most delicious, nutritious, affordable, meat, fish and dairy foods in the world, directly from plants. >> meat lovers are meat lovers. pat and the team knew impossible foods would be a hard sell. instead of going to the consumer, they enlisted the help

of top chefs known for their love of all things carnivorous. >> i like to think i'm a good home chef. i know that i have messed up many a burger. we didn't want to take that risk. >> they started with david chang. >> david tried the burger. he called it a game changer, reached for his mobile phone and posted it before i could stop him. that broke the door open for people who follow great chefs like david. >> and martin, the chief culinary artist for hotels, night life and food brands, including the influential burger. >> mind boggling in a way because you didn't expect something so real in front of you. this is real meat. >> this partnership with chefs and restaurants is paying off for both sides.

after putting the burger on the menu for the first time, they saw a lift in sales of 26% in the first few weeks. >> a big marketing push behind it. i think people are very excited. i think they were curious. it draws a lot of people to the restaurant. >> the marketing made them curious, but the taste had them coming back. it is now one of the top three best sellers. >> up to 75% of consumers we are seeing at great burger chains are hard for meat eaters. it's driven great business for them. it's the core customer that keeps coming back, making it the best selling burger for weeks on end. they have launched several versions of it. >> more culinary whizzes are looking to take a stab at creating something new with impossible foods and more restaurants adding the product to the menu.

>> great chefs love discovering something new and innovative. the undercurrent is well developed. they follow each other. when you have a great hit, suddenly, all the chefs that follow david chang are interested in trying the impossible burger. that followership isn't just consumers and social media, it's chefs who make a lot of the decisions of what to serve. >> the impossible burger is served at 1600 locations, spanning every price range from top dollar restaurants in napa valley to your local white. other cuts of meat may soon be on the table. >> we start because it's a high bar for the american meat eater. now that we have surpassed it, we have permission to pursue all the other products that are

coming. we can do imposzable fish. just the other day, i had a compelling impossible steak. the sky is the limit for this technology. we are doing something different for this elevator pitch series. instead of having people pitch to potential investors, they are going to pitch to influencers. can they get people to write about them? it doesn't matter how great your company is, if nobody knows about it, it will fail. the stakes are real and they are big. we are at the she knows office in new york city, a women's lifestyle brand that reaches 75 million people. they have a conference called the blog her conference. if it gets the heart emoji from the panelist, they go to blog her. the blog her conference in new york city and they will get to present in front of 3,000 influencers. let's see how our pitcher does.

>> hey, sarah. j.j. >> nice to meet you. >> so nice to meet you, too. i have been playing with your app. it's amazing. >> thank you. >> what would it mean to you to get to speak in front of all the influencers? >> it is huge. we have to get the word out about things. i love the app and would love for them to know about the app and share it. >> how long have you been working on it? >> three years now. >> have you pitched before? >> not really. >> you are so funny. you are so calm. you are going to do great. you are pitching to two people. sam, she is fantastic, runs she knows, the president of it. katie has her own blog 12ish style. across her channel, she reaches 500,000 people. >> i hope she loves it.

>> you are going to do great. your product is awesome. >> thank you, j.j. hi, i'm sarry. >> i'm kate ki. >> nice to meet you. >> i love music. i love festivals. i don't love spending half the day trying to find my friends. if your friends are like mine, they are bad at giving directions. i'm in the middle, holding up my phone. i created a game that tells you whether you are getting warmer or cooler until you are hot. it's way more intuitive than looking at a map and more fun. brands spend $1.4 million a year on sponsorship and looking for ways to engage with festival goers. use it as a relevant, innovative thing at the events. use it for a v.i.p. entry. right now, the app is available to download free in the app

store. i'm looking for partners to take it to the next level. >> cool. >> all right. nice job. >> thanks. >> so, pitching to influencers, i want to hear what you thought of it, not as an idea, but an idea you would write about. she is out here pitching to influencers to get them to write about it. i'm going give you a second to ask questions. >> i thought you did a great job. it's a cool idea. one additional place i think it could be cool for is theme parks, families and theme parks. myself, i am always losing my friends at, like, new york city has great events but you can never find anyone. i would download this. in fact, you can. >> sam, how do you think the pitch went. don't tell us if you are going to do it or not. >> i won't. i run an events series that is large for women influencers. i may or may not think that is

relevant to the business i run. your pitch was tight, very tight. you know what you are saying. you went to monotieization. eventually, you might charge consumers. a fast way to leverage an existing market base, which is brands who pay to integrate into events. >> the question here is, she is not pitching to partners. she is pitching to get people to write about her. if she gets to blog her, she wants all those influencers to write about her. i'm going to give you two these. moment of truth. okay. >> i'm holding it. does she get to go to blog her? >> yeah. >> you are exciting. i feel like the girls in the audience are going to engage. you are crying.

i'm going to cry. i feel like this is really going to be a very popular app only trouble spot we saw, maybe we are not sure how the tech works. >> tech has to be tight. it's got to be good. with continued success you can tighten that up. >> i'm going to add one thing. sam is in charge of blog her, she can get everyone to download it. create an event. >> send it ahead for ticket sales. >> that is amazing. thanks so much. >> maybe i can find my children with it. >> keep moving. awesome idea. >> thank you so much. you will see her again. not that many founders are experts at raidsing money. frankly, you don't do it that often. it's not surpriseing that very smart people that are good adds running their company make basic

mistakes when raising capital. these are founding partners of the female founders fund and here to tell us whatnot to do. great to see you. >> thanks for having us. >> you are entrepreneur turned investor and have been on both sides of this and seen great successes and as a result, so many people coming to you. this is going to be great information. let's go through your points. do not pitch to the wrong investors. do you find it happens a lot? i feel like it's a basic piece of advice. >> it's actually something we find happens quite often and, ultimately, as an entrepreneur, when you are thinking about the fund raising process, step one should be understanding your landscape. so, who are the investors interested in the industry you are focused on? what kind of backgrounds do they have? are they excited about the space? making sure they leverage platforms like twitter and angel

list to tap into that network so that, ultimately, when you get to the fund raising process you are not wasting your time on investors who aren't interested in the space and can't add value. >> what about talking to investors? you have a network of investors. i know this isn't what you do, but do you know anyone? let me give you the quick elevator pitch, do you know anyone? it's a great way to build your network, especially if you are raising money for the first time. it is daunting to think about, how do i meet these people? meet one. if they are not the right fit for you, ask them, are there other people in your network that you feel comfortable introducing me to that could be the right fit for my industry and the stage which my company is in. >> the second part is not underselling your team. is that something people do? they don't talk about their team? >> the point around that is, as investors, ultimately, across any stage, you are investing in

people. of course we want to understand your business. we want to understand the economics. more importantly, we want to understand what drives you and your team. why are you excited about this space? what unique skill set do you have and how are you going to make this a massive success? >> the idea is they may change their business along the way. >> we have seen that. >> you are partnering, many times. you need to know you are partnering with a smart team who can turn on a dime. >> and pivot and really, are looking to build a business that they are passionate about. >> how do you explain that? right? in the pitch to you, how do you explain, hey, while they are saying how great this company is and what they are starting, also get across, by the way, if it doesn't work, i'm going change it? >> it's less about addressing that as part of the pitch and more understanding what is your background and how are you tieing that into the vision you have for the business? what are the unique insights you

have? what are you going to do from a team perspective to make sure you have the right kind of founding team members that will ensure success? ultimately, i think resilience is a key piece of potentially having to pivot. are you committed to building something, but have flexibility to, you know, take a step back and reflect if this is not working, then we may need to rethink our strategy. >> if i were an investor in your shoes, i would want to hear what failure did you have and how did you deal with it. you are going to have them. you talk about not glossing over data. where in the -- here's the best thing that could happen and the worst thing that can happen do you like people to pitch you? >> you know, as investors, we are looking for outside success. we want entrepreneurs who are really enthusiastic about the business and can see that billion dollar opportunity at the other end. at the same time, that understanding of data piece is

important. we want to know you know how your business works, right? what drives revenue? how do you reduce cost. understanding cost and customer acquisition. those are things you indicate to us that shows you spent time researching and how to build a business that scales over time. >> finally, don't say you have no competitors. nobody has no competitors. i would add to this, don't say your market is everyone. right? i think those are two red lights that say you haven't thought hard about this business. do you see that a lot? >> we do. we do. when it comes to competition, it's just not true that any company exists in a world where there's no competition. that indicates to us, if you say that, you haven't spent enough time thinking about your market, you haven't spent enough time researching who else is out there. i think entrepreneurs can take that point and turn it around to

show how thoughtful they have been building the business and talking intelligently about competitors and telling why your company is going to do better. it gives us confidence that you have spent time. >> almost the easiest way to sell your business, right? say here is what's out here. here is the problem they are not addressing and why we are going to. >> right. >> absolutely. >> great to pick your brains since you see so many companies. some very successful ones. thank you for stopping by. >> thanks for having us. a lot of dog owners consider their pets part of the family and they send those furry friends to get pampered, just like people or better, at deluxe resorts. joleen kent went to check one out. >> from lassie to bengie, americans have long had a love affair with their dogs. the secret life of some pets may surprise you.

massages, blueberry facials and pawicures. it's the humanization of pets and it's a big business across america. >> this is where spa treatment. >> had is nicer than my bedroom. >> it's niers than my bedroom. >> americans spent a record $66 billion on their pets last year. 11 billion of that going to pampering. 33% of pet owners say they pamper they're pets with pet furniture, 17% buy pet clothing and 10% have a stroller for their little baby. josh owns the pet spa in the los angeles area which takes grooming to a new level. >> we'll drive them in, put them on instagram. we then give them a massage, a grooming, netflix and chill session, and they get a sir loin steak or salmon for dinner.

>> ikea has rolled out a new line of furniture exclusively for pets so you and your dog can have matching sofas. how about a new on-demand delivery service that drops fresh meals at your door. >> people want to feed their dog how they feed themselves. it's all natural, 100% grade so all the ingredients that we get for oli are safe for you to eat too. >> this may have a benefit. a study from george mason university found that people with pets save $12 billion a year in healthcare costs. >> everybody is looking to reward their pet more in human terms because everybody's finding that the benefits they're feeling, the better health, more alert, more awake, feel loving -- >> back at d pet hotel there's no shortage of dog lovers looking to show their pet a high-end experience. >> she comes here, there's this big smile.

she runs here. >> i brought her here for her birthday because i knew would be the most fun place for her to be all zbla what did she do? >> she played and got spoiled. >> at the end of the day these pet owners agree the post of the paw had cures are puppy love. when we come back, businesses having a hard time recruiting talent. we'll tell you what you can do in the interview process for people that want to work at your company. process for people that want to work at your company. don't forget that the past can speak to the future. ♪ ♪ i'm going to be your substitute teacher. don't assume the substitute teacher has nothing to offer... same goes for a neighborhood. don't forget that friendships last longer than any broadway run. mr. president. (laughing) don't settle for your first draft. or your 10th draft.

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>> in a similar type of role and where they have gone because people want to hear about progression in a company. talk about the things that you do that are fun and then also talk about the things that you're doing that are investigating in the employee so that they understand if they come to you, they're going to be built on, they're going to be given more skills, more opportunity over the course of the time that they work for you. >> we've now got the top two tips you need to know to help you grow your business, so let's introduce our panel and get their advice. we have the founder and ceo of beauty brand virtue lab. she also used to run big brands. and tony is the ceo of handbag designer ham met. good to see both of you. beautiful bags, fantastic hair care products and both of you started these from nothing, right? and you've run some very big businesses as well.

let's start with yu. what's one thing you've learned along the way? >> i've raised a lot of money in my career so what i would say to you is if you don't have to raise money, don't raise money. if you do have to raise money, make sure you belduild a strong relationship. what starts out good could sometimes not end soup well, so i would encourage people do their due diligence if they're raising venture capital fund or family office money, it's a pret continue tense relationship. >> i just did an interview, it will be on the podcast later on but with the founder of mail chimp they did more than a billion and a half revenue last year, never took a dime. i think it's interesting for people to see there's another way to grow a company and grow it large, you do not always have to go raise money, it depends on how quickly you want to grow and what you need to grow. >> and the cost of entry and

customer acquisition. we're in a noisy space, hair care is i noisy space so getting traction and space is hard. if you can askroid it, avoid. but if you have to do it, do it. you really want to do your due diligence, find out deals that worked well and deals that didn't work well and why before you step into that. >> your handbags, it's a big hit over there. >> that was a lot of fun. >> over there in the studio everyone arizona going crazy about them. >> thank you. >> but you've run many businesses and started many businesses. >> nice little segue from the roofing business to finance to luxury handbags, perfect, right? >> normal path, roofing to handbags. >> right. >> so what's one thing you've learned? >> along all those paths if you have a long term vision where you want to go, choose everybody you surround yourself with wisely. so not just your team, but your retailing partners, the artisans

that make our bags, and even everyone that we associate ourselves with, including our compare the component. i really have found no matter how small the business, no matter how large you want to grow, you can only be as successful as the person that provides the highest value and the last person in that's providing the newest value. if you combine all the energy of the people that are with you in business and that you're doing business with and it's a positive, you're going to keep growing. >> "the new york times" had a unique piece about surrounding yourself with positive people. >> positive people only. >> and how it afefects you. >> and that's here in new york. >> i found if you let one negative energy in. >> yeah. >> even no matter what it's worth financially, it will affect everybody, your team, you your partners, your business, and even your customers. you have to avoid it. >> it's true. good to see both of you. that's great advice from both of you.

>> thank you. this week's your biz selfie comes from paula from new jersey. she runs a company called writing and wine. she hosts events where participants craft stories and use their creativity while shipping their chardonnays or merlot, which i'm guessing helps get that creativity flowing. now why don't you use your korea at this time, pick your cell phone, take a selfie of your and your business and send us to msnbc.com or #maple burr biz. thank you so much for joining you. we love flaring you so if you have questions or comments or want to say high, e-mail us your business ya@msnbc.com. we put everything plus a whole lot more on our website for you.

and then finally, check out our podcast, it's called been there built that. you can download it for free from tune in or wherever you get our podcasts. we look forward seeing you next time. until then, i'm jj ramberg and, remember, we make your business our business. can speak to the fut ♪ ♪ i'm going to be your substitute teacher. don't assume the substitute teacher has nothing to offer... same goes for a neighborhood. don't forget that friendships last longer than any broadway run. mr. president. (laughing) don't settle for your first draft. or your 10th draft. ♪ ♪ you get to create the room where it happens.

♪ ♪ just don't think you have to do it alone. ♪ ♪ the powerful backing of american express. don't live life without it. good morning and welcome to politics nation. labor day weekend traditionally marks the final stretch to our midterm elections. but this year, barring some break, a cloud hanging over these next nine weeks, called the mueller commission or mueller investigation. and the number of weekends, 60% of americans who disapprove of the job president trump is doing, a new h